Web Site Usability and Online Sales

Part Two - Guide to Increasing Online Sales

The issue here is one of usability and accessibility. You want your web site to be functional and usable and to be accessible to widest possible audience. You want a web site that doesn't drive people nuts trying to figure things out, cause headaches trying to read teeny tiny text or an epileptic seizure from a ridiculous flashing animation. You have seen sites like this; you know what I'm talking about.

You want a web site that steers people towards the goal of making a purchase. You want a site which anticipates visitor's needs, that answers questions. You want a site that holds a visitor's hand and shows them exactly what you are selling, how much it costs and how to pay for it. Not only that, you want visitors to know that you offer refunds, that shipping costs are extra or included. You only use images on your site if you truly feel that they are needed, photos of a product for instance.

This whole notion of addressing issues concerned with how visitors interact with your web site is known as usability.

Most web designers really and truly stink at creating sites that are usable. So, don't beat yourself up too badly if you haven't thought much about these things either. Designers are usually concerned with how a site looks more than they are about how a site works. Designers are pretty bad at this sort of stuff but web programmers are even worse.

Here's a little secret for you. There are lots and lots of so called web design firms in the world that are actually run by web programmers. These folks usually don't know the first thing about web design and they certainly don't think much about how a web site will be used by a visitor, or the process of making an online sale, or ranking well in search engines. These are information technology people, they think about information technology things.

The usability of your web site or the lack of it is the one the biggest weak spots online the online buying process. You only have a few seconds to convince site users that they are in the right place. Unless your web site has addressed every usability concern imaginable, that site visitor will go elsewhere and you will have lost another sale.

The following list highlights some of the major issues concerned with your site's usability. I may have mentioned a few of these already but they are worth repeating.

• Web Page takes too long to load in browser.
• Web Page does not work properly in all major browsers
• Complicated scripting or programming
• Site navigation is confusing or complicated
• Important page content is difficult to find
• Site does not address issues of trust
• Site has no calls to action
• Site has little or nor valuable content
• Products and services lack description or details
• Payment process is confusing or complicated
  
  

Part One - Introduction to Online Sales
Part Two - Web Site Usability
Part Three - Defining Calls to Action
Part Four - Optimizing Sales Copy
Part Five - Online Purchasing Behaviors
Part Six - Price Comparison Behavior
Part Seven - Building Online Trust
Part Eight - Understanding Conversion Rates
Part Nine - The Payment Process
Part Ten - After The Sale


Download this Complete Guide in PDF Format